Conveyor means

ABSTRACT

A conveyor system including a shaker bed, counterweights, two pairs of 180* offset eccentrics mounted on a shaft, hanger arms supporting the bed, pitman arms driving the bed back and forth by one pair of eccentrics, counterweights, hanger arms supporting them, and pitman arms driving them back and forth by the other pair of eccentrics.

I United States Patent 1191 1111 3,842,972 Amori Oct. 22, 1974 1 CONVEYOR MEANS 3,038,589 6/1962 Allen et al.. 198/220 CA Inventor: J p A. Amori, 1270 Pine 3,478,704 11/1969 Ford 198/220 CB X San Jose, Calif. 95125 Primary Examiner-James B. Marbert [22] Filed July 1972 Assistant Examiner-Bruce H. Stoncr, Jr. [21] Appl. No.: 272,014 Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Naylor, Neal & Uilkcma Related US. Application Data [62] Ser. No. 93,071, Nov. 27, 1970, Pat. No, ABSTRACT A conveyor system including a shaker bed, counterg 198/220 g weights, two Pairs of 180 offset eccentrics mounted I c n s 1 I s s s I s s s a n a s i s v u s s s s a [58] new of 3 5 252 arms driving the bed back and forth by one pair of eccentrics, counterweights, hanger arms supporting them, and pitman arms driving them back and forth by [56] uNlTE g gfz r E s gg rENTs the other pair of eccentrics.

1,289,791 12/1918 Jacobsen 198/220 CB 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures PAIENTED Z 3.842.972

FIG. 3

1 CONVEYOR MEANS This is a division of application Ser. No. 93,071, filed Nov. 27, 1970, now US. Pat. No. 3,717,087.

An object of the present invention is to provide an improved conveyor system which is of relatively simple and inexpensive construction.

The above-noted and other objects of this invention will be understood from the following description taken with reference to the drawings wherein:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are elevational and plan views respectively of apparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGS. 3 and 4 are elevational end views taken in opposite directions showing details of the apparatus.

Referring now to the drawings, apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention is illustrated. The apparatus receives pitted peach halves or the like and is utilized to cut said halves into a plurality of slices. In a manner which will be described in greater detail below, the apparatus serves to orient peach halves, place them into alignment, and cut them into slices.

The orienting mechanism is generally designated in the drawings by means of reference numeral 10. The orienting mechanism comprises a frame assembly having disposed thereon and mounted for oscillatory motion with respect thereto a shaker table 12. The frame assembly is comprised of a plurality of interconnected vertical elements 14 and generally horizontal elements 16. Affixed to the frame assembly elements as shown are platform means comprising support members 18 and associated cross brace members 20.

of eccentrics 26.

The drive train for rotating drive shaft 24 comprises a sheave 40 mounted on the drive shaft, a belt 42, and a drive pulley 44 which is connected to the output shaft of a motor 46. Motor 46 is mounted on one of the frame assembly generally horizontal elements 16.

Projecting upwardly from support members 18 as illustrated are bearings 22 which rotatably support therein a drive shaft 24. Secured to drive shaft 24 are two pairs of eccentrics 26, 26 and 28, 28, respectively. Eccentric's 26 are disposed 180 out of phase with eccentrics 28 for the purpose which will be described below. Connected to eccentrics 26 and extending outwardly therefrom as shown are pitman arms 30 which are pivotally connected at the other ends thereof to shaker table 12 as by means of connector pins or the like. It will be appreciated that pitman arms 30 impart a reciprocative motion to the shaker table upon the rotation of the eccentric cams in a well known manner. Providing support for shaker table 12 on the frame assembly are four support arms 32 which provide pivotal interconnection between shaker table 12 and support members 18. It should be noted that support arms 32 are disposed in pairs at each end of the shaker table to give a tilt or angular disposition to the table. A suitable form of pivotal interconnection such as pivot pins or the like are provided to connect support arms 32 to both shaker table 12 and the support members 18.

Four additional support arms 34 are also pivotally mounted on support members 18 and project upwardly therefrom in the manner shown. Pivotally connected to the upper ends of each pair of support arms 34 associated with each of the support members are counterweights 36. A pitman arm 38 is connected to each of the counterweights 36. The other ends of the pitman arms 38 are affixed to eccentrics 28. It will be appreciated that as shaft 24 rotates, eccentrics 28 will serve to move counterweights 36 in a direction generally opposite to that imparted to shaker table 12 by the operation Shaker table 12 includes two converging side walls 50 and rear wall 52. Extending upwardly from side walls 50 are two vertically disposed interior side walls 54 which together with said side walls 50 define an open-topped fruit orienting channel 56. Angularly disposed baffle plates 58 provide a smooth interconnection between one end of interior side walls 54 and side walls 50. That portion of the shaker table disposed between bafile plates 58 and rear wall 52 may be thought of as the hopper section thereof. In practice, fruit halves are disposed in a random manner in said hopper section with oscillation of said shaker table serving to urge said fruit halves toward the baffle plates. Fruit orienting channel 56 is of a size permitting the passage of only one fruit half at a time, said fruit halves being serially placed on edge by said angularly disposed baffle plates. In FIG. 2 several representative fruit halves are shown in dotted line fashion and are designated by means of reference numeral 60.

Due to the oscillatory motion of the shaker table and the general inclination thereof, fruit halves 60 move in a serial fashion in said orienting channel toward the right as viewed in FIGS. 1 and 2.

As the fruit exits from the fruit orienting channel 56 it is in engagement with a pair of elongated baffle plates 62 which converge inwardly as shown to define a generally V-shapedconfiguration of increasingly smaller dimensions as the fruit proceeds toward the right. Due to the configurations of the elongated baffle plates 62, the flat side of each fruit half tends to engage same as the fruit exits from the fruit orienting channel. As the plates converge, the fruit is gradually positioned with the flat side thereof disposed in a downwardly direction with the fruit exiting onto flat plate 64.

Under the influence of gravity and the oscillatory movement of shaker table 12, the peach halves or the like slide from flat plate 64 onto an endless conveyor belt 66 for further handling.

I claim as my invention:

1. A conveyor system comprising a bed, pairs of hanger arms supporting the bed for back and forth movement, a shaft, a first pair of eccentrics on said shaft, pitman arms interconnecting said eccentrics and said bed operable to impart back and forth movement to the bed through rotative movement of the shaft, a pair of separate, laterally spaced, elongated counterweights located in vertically spaced relation to the bed and laterally outwardly therefrom, pairs of hanger arms supporting said counterweights for back and forth movement along a path generally parallel to that of said bed, a secondvpair of eccentrics on said shaft, and pitman arms interconnecting said second pair of eccentries and said counterweights operable to impart conjoint back and forth movement to said counterweights through rotative movement of the shaft, said pairs of eccentrics being positioned out of phase with each other whereby saidcounterweights are moved in a direction opposite to that of said bed. 

1. A conveyor system comprising a bed, pairs of hanger arms supporting the bed for back and forth movement, a shaft, a first pair of eccentrics on said shaft, pitman arms interconnecting said eccentrics and said bed operable to impart back and forth movement to the bed through rotative movement of the shaft, a pair of separate, laterally spaced, elongated counterweights located in vertically spaced relation to the bed and laterally outwardly therefrom, pairs of hanger arms supporting said counterweights for back and forth movement along a path generally parallel to that of said bed, a second pair of eccentrics on said shaft, and pitman arms interconnecting said second pair of eccentrics and said counterweights operable to impart conjoint back and forth movement to said counterweights through rotative movement of the shaft, said pairs of eccentrics being positioned 180* out of phase with each other whereby said counterweights are moved in a direction opposite to that of said bed. 